VA Claims for Chronic Fatigue & Fibromyalgia.

VA Claims for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia are increasingly common claims among Veterans of the Persian Gulf era. In recent years, I have seen an increase in the number of Veterans filing VA claims for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

Chronic fatigue is sometimes a medical condition by itself, and in other cases is a precursor or symptom of another medical condition.  Chronic fatigue consistently demonstrates the following list of symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Loss of memory or concentration
• Sore throat
• Enlarged lymph nodes in your neck or armpits
• Unexplained muscle pain
• Pain that moves from one joint to another without swelling or redness
• Headache of a new type, pattern or severity
• Unrefreshing sleep
• Extreme exhaustion lasting more than 24 hours after physical or mental exercise

Because chronic fatigue – like sleep apnea and a couple other medical conditions – do not have symptoms and limitations that raters and  examiners can see, it has been my experience that VA claims for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue tend to be looked at with “raised eyebrows” by the VA.

As a result, claims like these get a reputation as being difficult to prove – or Veterans start telling other Veterans that you can’t service connect fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

This simply is not the case – I encourage Veterans to file a VA Claim for any medical condition that they believe is related to or had its origin in military service, or that is caused or aggravated by a condition that did.

Proving service connection is as straightforward as proving the 4 Pillars of a VA Claim.  Proving service connection for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue is no different.

When it comes to VA Claims for chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia, the first question that veterans will confront when filing a claim or appeal that involves chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia is how to prove the element of nexus.

Before you can get the right VA Disability rating for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia, you have to prove the 2nd Pillar – Nexus.

This quick tip video – part of the 5+ hour training course “How to Prove the 4 Pillars of a VA Claim” – will give you an overview of some common ways to service-connect a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue or Fibromyalgia.